pumpkin cinnamon roll pancakes
When I said I was raring to go to start making fall foods, I had this at the very forefront of my mind. Allow me introduce you to the most decadent, extravagant, and tastiest pancakes you have ever met: pumpkin cinnamon roll pancakes. These fabulous go-getters go above and beyond the mere pancake (which, let’s face it, can be pretty fantastic all on its own). They’re part pumpkin pancake, part cinnamon roll and if you’ve heard of anything more genius than that, well, I’d like to hear about it.
To make these – and you will want to make them – you make your pretty standard pumpkin pancake, but just after you pour the batter on the griddle, you pipe on a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, butter mixture in a spiral on top. As the pancake cooks, the cinnamon swirl melts and sinks into the pancake. Once the pancake has cooked for 3-4 minutes, you carefully flip it over and take a good long sniff of all that cinnamon and butter. Pure heaven. After just another couple minutes on the griddle, your pumpkin cinnamon roll pancake is all done. Until you add the cream cheese icing of course, because come on, this is a cinnamon roll pancake here. Then serve them up, nice and hot and draped in icing, and just try telling me these aren’t the very best pancakes you’ve ever had.
I would worry about overhyping these, but oh my goodness, you won’t be disappointed. I went in with the highest of expectations (I mean, the name alone sent me into a tizzy – yes, I just said tizzy) and I was still absolutely blown away at how amazing these pancakes are. They. Are. AMAZING.
I mean, just look at them! Pumpkin pancakes (yes!) with a swirl of sweet, buttery cinnamon (yes, yes!), dripping with cream cheese glaze (YES!)! These are serious pancakes and as such, it’s hard to eat more than one or two (though your eyes will be begging you for more). The cinnamon swirl works best if you make the pancakes a little larger and they are also very rich (just wait and see how much butter goes into these, but I did lighten up the recipe by using 1% milk instead of whole!). This is not an everyday breakfast, so reserve these pancakes for the mornings when you want to completely knock your socks (or someone else’s) right off. And who says pancakes have to be for breakfast? We’ve been enjoying the leftovers after dinner as dessert!
Adapted from Recipe Girl
I thought I would be all clever and use a squeeze bottle for the cinnamon filling, but the tip was too small. Not only did the filling come out in too thin of a stream, but it kept getting clogged. You could obviously use a pastry bag and tip, or just go the nice and easy route of a ziplock bag, which is what I ended up using in the end.
These are hands down the most extraordinary pancakes I have ever had. I hope you love them as much as I did.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
- 1 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2/ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
Instructions
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, heat butter for 40 to 60 seconds, just until butter is melted. Whisk in brown sugar and cinnamon and let the mixture sit on the counter to thicken while you work on the next steps.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat butter and cream cheese 30 to 60 seconds, just until butter has melted and cream cheese has softened. Whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla and combine until smooth. Pour the icing in a sandwich-size ziplock bag and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vinegar. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt and brown sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until all is moistened.
- Whisk up the cinnamon mixture again if the butter has separated at all and pour into a sandwich-size ziplock bag. The mixture should have thickened to about the consistency of toothpaste (throw it in the refrigerator for a few minutes if you need to - the swirl won't work if it is runny). Snip off a small piece of the corner of the bag and set aside carefully so nothing leaks out.
- Preheat a large skillet or griddle to medium. Use a ladle or an ice cream scoop to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or ladle to spread out the batter into a nice, even circle. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Pick up your cinnamon filling baggie and squeeze the filling into the corner. Starting at the center of the pancake squeeze the cinnamon filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl. Cook the pancakes 3 to 4 minutes, or until bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it is golden brown on the bottom.
- Slide a thin spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling.
- Just before serving, cut the tip off of the bag with the cream cheese icing and drizzle it on top of the pancakes. Serve pancakes hot.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:17 am
Ummm… WOW!!! I cannot wait to make these! But I’m not a big fan of cream cheese, so I think I’ll just do a powdered sugar icing instead. Do you think that would work?
October 7th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Absolutely! You can just mix some powdered sugar and milk to the right consistency and you’ll be all set.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Perfect fall food, can’t wait to try it!
October 7th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Wow. Just wow. Guess I know what I’m making this weekend!
October 7th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
These look so good!!! I love cinnamon rolls so these seem delish!! I must try!
October 8th, 2011 at 11:13 am
oh em gee
October 9th, 2011 at 10:03 am
I made these this morning. The flavors were great! The only trouble I ran into was that the butter/brown sugar mixture still was a bit too thick even with the proportions called for so it didn’t squeeze out. So, instead I crumbled the mixture over the batter and it seemed to work well enough. I suppose I could have added more butter to thin it out, but it was already less healthy than what I normally make!
October 9th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Hmm. Did you melt the butter all the way? I wonder if it cooled off too much before you used it. If that happens again, you could try throwing it in the microwave for a couple seconds to re-melt the butter a little bit, because you’re right – the last thing this recipe needs is more butter!
October 9th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
Wowwww these look so awesome. What a creative way to get so many awesome things into one pancake. Can’t wait to make these!
October 16th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
These look so delicious and beautiful!
October 26th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Omg. these look incredible! So creative! Can’t wait to make these for breakfast this weekend!
November 6th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Made them for a breakfast dinner last night– amazing! Just had more of the batter for breakfast–amazing again! Thank you so much for the idea!